A fourth network? The “pipe dream” persisted
(This is the 10th chapter of a book-in-progress, “Television, and How It Got That Way.” For previous chapters, go to “stories” and scroll down.)
For 30 years, a fourth TV network seemed like mere myth.
That was after the death of DuMont and before the birth of Fox. There were several tries, all imploding quickly.
One such fizzle (a 1967 latenight show led by Bill Dana, shown here) was declared by Jack Gould, the New York Times TV critic, to seal things. It was “further evidence that expansion of commercial TV is little more than a pipe dream.” Read more…